Japan Is Giving Away Homes

If you live or want to live in Japan and you’ve been dreaming of owning a spacious home that is bigger than the size of a wardrobe, you are in luck. Japan is launching a program to reduce the number of abandoned houses throughout the country by giving away 8 million houses for next to nothing or literally nothing.

Entering the housing market without paying a fortune has never looked so good.

According to The Japan Times “In Tokyo – where 70 percent of people live in apartments – more than 1 in 10 homes are empty, a ratio higher than in cities like London, New York and Paris.”

The large amount of abandoned homes in Japan can be seen as a result of the fact that Japan’s population is shrinking at an exponential rate.

The number of babies born in Japan in 2017 dropped to 946,060 which is the lowest level since 1899.

Simultaneously the number of deaths in Japan continue to increase with the average amount of births per day in Japan equating to 2,815 in contrast to 3,762 deaths per day.

Japan’s aging population gives an insight into one of the reasons behind why there is such an influx of abandoned homes.

Of course, giving away houses for almost nothing sounds too good to be true and in a way it is. The catch is that most of the homes are located in remote/regional areas rather than metropolitan areas.

Not only this, but a lot of the homes listed are abandoned for a reason. Some of the homes have actually had someone die in them before, making this a hard sell for real estate agents. Let’s not forget that in the old days it was extremely common for people to die within the walls of their own homes.

If potential spooky hauntings by former residents doesn’t really bother you then this is the perfect opportunity for you.

Adair Winder is a Journalism student from Melbourne Australia. Adair is an avid backpacker, having backpacked 40 countries so far at the age of 23, and has a passion for learning about the world we live in and sharing that with people through her writing.